Maureen Lipman said anti-Semitism in the Labour party is pushing her to vote for the Conservatives instead.

Asked if she is “becoming a Tory”, the actress, who had been a lifelong Labour voter, said: “I'm getting there. I can't be a Labour supporter any more. I’m a socialist in my heart, but how can I support this lot?”

Ms Lipman, who is Jewish, hit out against the rise of anti-Semitism within the Labour party. She told Peston on Sunday that anti-Semitic tropes fuel the problem.

“If you believe in conspiracy theories," she said. "If you believe all Jews are Zionists and therefore must be hated, if you believe all Jews are Capitalists and therefore must be hated [..] it is terribly easy to jump onto the bandwagon that we are all villains.